


Catatonic

by Akisame8



Series: Horizons [3]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, cats in space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-19 08:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11893884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akisame8/pseuds/Akisame8
Summary: Having recently acquired theScorpio,Avon tries to claim a cabin of his own—but finds it already occupied by an ornery feline stowaway. And so begins a battle of wills.





	Catatonic

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written for a monthly fanfic challenge on Horizon ("O-Cat-Ober") and is much more lighthearted. It was for an artwork prompt based on [this wonderful illustration by Atomicmayo](http://www.blakes7online.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=1868) of a forlorn Avon sitting with a cat in his lap.  
> 

It had started as a stand-off.  
  
    The cat hissed and Avon growled. And when Soolin went to investigate the source of the angry noises, she quickly found herself shifting from amusement to amazement, and finally to concerned bewilderment.  
  
    "One of us is leaving this chamber and it won't be _me,"_ declared Avon dangerously when he became aware that Soolin was standing in the open doorway of the cabin. She thought at first that he was referring to her, but then she saw the crouching, furious form of the cat on the bed. Soolin was certain that the snarling feline was expressing the exact same sentiment.  
  
    She grinned, relieved. "Oh, that's where Bast has been all this time!"  
  
    "Why is this creature even here?" Avon demanded. "And it has a _name—?"_  
  
    "Oh, Dorian called her Bast. Said it was the name of a goddess from Terran mythology... or something like that..."  
  
    "Dorian kept a cat?"  
  
    "No, he barely tolerated her. She just showed up on board and we thought she had stowed away on the _Scorpio_ somewhere around Sirius Five. Dorian couldn't catch her so he just gave up and let her have the run of the ship. I think having a ship's cat amused him, to be honest, as if we were on an old Terran sea vessel. Dorian was kind of an idiot for historical romance like that—and I was an idiot for following Dorian." Soolin looked sourly to the side at the memory of her former lover, but turned a quick grin in the direction of the cat. "And Bast's a mean thing, won't let anyone touch her. I like that. I think she's decided this is her room."  
  
    "Well, it most certainly is _not,"_ Avon said. "This is MY room now." He swaggered toward Bast again, all imposing black leather and studs, but Bast was having no part of it. She turned to the side and arched her back to increase her size. Then she swatted at him.  
  
    Avon backed away in consternation. "While I admire her tenacity, I do _not_ want a roommate."  
  
    "And apparently neither does she."  
  
    The two enemies glowered at one another until Avon finally pulled on one of his studded gloves. "Right, that's it." Lunging, he grabbed the hissing, spitting feline by the scruff of its neck, carried it to the door and tossed it unceremoniously into the corridor. He pressed the button to close the chamber door; but in an instant, the cat had spun around in the corridor and shot back inside.  
  
    ...Only she did not get completely inside because the door jammed firmly on her tail.  
  
    There erupted then a boisterous and piteous caterwauling that even managed to summon Vila from wherever he had been drowning himself in Soma. "What in all hell is going on in there?" he cried from the corridor outside the door. _"Oi,_ Avon! When did you get a cat?"  
  
    Avon snarled,"I DIDN'T! It's NOT my cat!" Then, in unexpected rasping hysteria, he yelled: "She's caught! Soolin, _DO_ something!"  
  
    He was trying to manually open the door and Soolin, distressed by the cat's cries of pain but wondering why Avon did not do this simple thing, pressed the button and the door slid open with ease. The cat, its tail bleeding, tried to run to safety but Avon suddenly scooped her up in his arms, gasping in a voice suddenly full of atypical concern: "Oh, her poor tail! She needs help—someone get Cally, _quick!"_  
  
    And then Soolin was astonished to see his face freeze into a sudden, peculiar blankness.  
  
    Arms still full of wounded cat, he slumped down on the bed, staring straight ahead. Soolin, still bewildered, took the now oddly calm Bast from him. Vila arrived shortly with bandages and antiseptic and revealed himself to be unusually adept at veterinary care.  
  
    "Ah, there's a good kitty," the thief cooed as he delicately bandaged the injured tail. "That's not so bad. You'll be right as rain now. Can't tell you how many times I've gotten stuck in between doors myself. Once I even got pinned between a sofa and a—"  
  
    The cat, apparently not interested in hearing the end of Vila's story, leaped out of his arms and crawled underneath the bed where Avon still sat, catatonic. Soolin looked at the silent seated figure in confusion and turned to the thief. "Who's Cally?" she asked, but Vila carefully ushered her out, leaving man and cat alone in the room.  
  
***  
    The next sound Avon heard in the dark silent room was his own voice whispering over and over: "Cally, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. I lost the _Liberator._ I'm so sorry."  
  
    He came out of his stupor only when he became aware of a low thrumming noise. He looked down in numbed surprise at the brown cat with the bandaged tail curled up in his lap. Bast rubbed her soft cheek against his hands until she finally convinced his fingers to stroke her matted fur. Avon said absently, "You really could use a good brushing. Not to mention a bath."  
  
    And Bast, who had been on the run all her life and had stowed away aboard a number of spaceships throughout the galaxy, purred with contentment.  
  
    This was how Avon came to have a roommate aboard the _Scorpio._ And Bast even allowed him to sleep in her bed.  
  
***  
_Postscript:_  
Bast the Cat survived the crash of the _Scorpio_ and became an outlaw rodent hunter on Gauda Prime.

**Author's Note:**

> Bast's name came from the ominous cat statue in the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian Gray. (Still my favorite filmed version of that story.)
> 
> This fic was written the month that Paul Darrow, Michael Keating and Colin Baker appeared at the Supreme Cat Show, where Paul was a judge. So October on Horizon had a definite cat theme. And we've all wanted to see Avon with a cat, right?


End file.
